Exactly last year, my friend and I purchased two round trip tickets to Singapore at Airphil Express because it was the cheapest among all airlines that I have checked. Their round trip tickets for June 2011 costs less than 5 thousand each passenger.

So when our trip was getting nearer, changes with our personal schedule were inevitable. We needed to rebook our trip later this year, September 2011 to be exact. I called up their hotline last May to ask how much would it cost to rebook it on September.

To cut the long story short, I have spoken to three different Customer Service Representatives that day and they gave me three different answers. All of their answers were extreme from one another.

To put an end to this, I decided to go to their office located in Cubao. When we arrived there, I was shocked that none of the three Customer Service Representatives’ answers tally with the Customer Service Representative assigned in Cubao.

I am more confident with her answer because we were there and she was in front of her computer where we could actually see what she was doing. She even let us have a glimpse of the rates.

She suggested that we just use the tickets we originally bought rather than have it re-booked because it would cost like 200% more than the original price.

As much as we want to we cant. Although, she told us that we can no longer have it refund based on the policy, she still suggested that we wrote to Airphil Express maybe they could do something about it especially that just asking a very simple question has already brought as inconvenience. We could have gotten the right answer through phone (which was the main purpose why they have hotlines to begin with) instead, we need to actually go to their office, and speak to a live Customer Service Representative. This is beginning to get to my nerves.

That didn’t stop there. I wrote so many emails to them starting May 23, 2011 and they answer after a week or two. I have noticed that they only answer my email whenever I attention it to their “BIG BOSSES”. Some service they have.

After the long wait, they told me that they couldn’t refund my tickets instead, I can rebook them within three months waived from penalty fees but subject for fare adjustments. At that point, I thought that was fair enough until it was time to rebooked them.

Early of September 2011, I wrote again to Airphil Express Online Support to ask how much would it cost if I will rebook it on December 2011. As I have checked online, if I am going to purchase a new round trip tickets, it would cost like eight thousand pesos. So I made a mental note that my tickets should cost like four thousand or less. Sounds reasonable.

Again, they weren’t that quick in answering so I decided once more to call up their hotline. This time the person that I spoke with was more knowledgeable with the Subject Matter. She was able to answer my queries with confidence but I was disappointed with the information that I have received.

First, she told me that there wasn’t any notation that I have a previous agreement with one of the Fulfillment People that I can still rebook my tickets waived from penalty fees but subject for fare adjustments. I was about to burst with anger but I controlled my temper because if I get mad, the person who is assisting me now can’t do anything about it.

Second, she told me that if I want my tickets to be re-booked on December this year, I can not avail the existing promo that they have for Singapore.

That was absurd. Why wouldn’t I be entitled? To begin with, nobody told me about this rule. I still have their emails as proof.

And because of this new information that I have, I emailed them again and attention it to their “BIG BOSSES” once more. After three days, they replied to me and said that they have already done necessary notations and I can rebook my tickets until October 6, 2011.

I decided not to re-book them anymore because I don’t want to have anything to do with Airphil Express. I am so disappointed with their service. It is pretty obvious that they are more focused in Sales rather than giving their customers proper service.

I would appreciate more if they could have informed me last May or June that I can re-book them waived from penalty fees but subject from rate adjustments but suggested that it is better to just purchase new tickets because it would cost less. They could have spared me from this horrible experience. And because of this incident, I would be speaking ill to this company until I get tired of sharing my worst experience.

Or to make it easier for the both parties, they could have grant me the promo tickets besides if you total everything, it will still cost more than what I have purchased. They will still gain from it and I could have been somehow satisfied with their service.

I just hope in this way, I would be able to call the BIG BOSSES attention before it is too late for their company. A lot of airlines have already shut down or have merged because of incidents like this. And by the way, below is the email that I sent to them last September 20, 2011 but never got a reply. This only means that they don’t care anymore and that I am just one unhappy customer that could not do any harm to their company. Let’s just wait and see.

I have made my decision not to rebook my ticket anymore for the reasons that it costs more than if I just get a new ticket elsewhere and you Customer Service was never helpful.

I was really disheartened with the way you treat your customers. It really made me feel that your company targeted more in increasing your Sales rather than increasing your customers’ excellent experience. I am not sure if your company is aware that a customer can break or make a company no matter how big or small it is now by simply airing out his or her own personal experience. Especially that freedom of speech is made easier now to air out our sentiments with the use of the internet by just mere commenting or starting a forum. But if the customer really has the time to create a blog, much better.

Your company could have spared me from this horrible experience months ago if your Customer Service, online Support explained to me everything. When I say everything meaning that it is better if they suggested to me to just get a new tickets instead of rebooking it because you get to avail our promo tickets that costs less than 2,000 pesos rather than telling me that I will be waived from rebooking fees. That’s just total BULL!!!

I don’t know if you were trained that way or you’re not really thinking what is best for your customers. Either way this goes to show that your service is worthless.

If you will have the time to find the root of all this disappointment, it only started by wrong information. See how simple it is to disappoint a customer? Of course you know. I think that is where you are good at.

Mind you, after a few hours, this rotten experience that I had will circulate all over the net. People talk you know and you don’t know who your customers know or connected with. Also, internet is more powerful than the print ads if you want something out there in an instant.

I have learned that not all inexpensive stuff like cars, houses, gadgets, and airfares are worth it. Sometimes splurging a little bit is much better than being stingy. Like what had happened to me, instead of making a huge savings, I end up throwing almost five thousand pesos down the drain. Think about it.